Greenwald to Join Billionaire-Funded Journalism Project

Tech billionaire Pierre M. Omidyar, founder and chair of eBay, will team up with Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald -- the first to open Edward Snowden's treasure chest of leaks -- to launch a mass media venture designed to foster top-flight journalism.

Omidyar has long supported journalism. He has made grants to independent media outlets in Africa, as well as to government watchdogs in the U.S. He also launched his own news website in his native Hawaii.

Omidyar announced the new project on his blog. Details are a bit sketchy, but Greenwald is reportedly on board. Documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, a go-between for Snowden and Greenwald, is also expected join the fun.

Chinese Video Service Sues Xiaomi

In particular, Youku Tudou claims that Xiaomi Box owners had unauthorized access to more than 10 TV series. Youku Tudou is demanding that Xiaomi cough up about US$825,000, issue a public apology, and of course quit offering the content.

It is interesting (or funny, perhaps) that Youku Tudou is crying foul over unlicensed streams. The outfit came to be after a merger between two online streaming services -- Youku and Tudou -- each of which was notorious in China for peddling unlicensed content. Now, however, the tandem is trying to operate on the up-and-up, and it apparently expects everyone else to fall in line, too.

Xiaomi is a rising player in the smartphone game. In August, it hired away Google executive Hugo Barra to be its head of international business development. More recently, it
sold 100,000 units of its new MiPhone 3 in less than 90 seconds.

Report: Indonesia Top Attack Hub

Indonesia supplanted China as the world's top source of attack traffic in the second quarter, according to Akamai.

Indonesia accounted for 38 percent of sinister traffic, up from just 21 percent the previous quarter, says the firm's second-quarter report. China, the former No. 1, dipped from 34 to 33 percent; the U.S. went from 8.3 to 6.9.

This isn't to say, however, that 38 percent of attackers are originating in Indonesia. Online criminals could remotely route attacks through compromised machines in Indonesia, Akamai pointed out, even if they were themselves oceans away.